Urbis: You came into architecture at a very young age, building your first house at just 17. Did you grow up around architecture and building?
Nicholas Dalton: Yes, my father worked as a ‘drafty’ for a RIBA firm called Hocking & Verral in the 60’s & 70’s in Rotorua. They completed most of the Modernist buildings down that way and had clients like the Ministry of Education and NZ dairy board. From the earliest age, I remember going to site and hanging out in the office. Dad would bring home the architectural models and I would have a field day with them, ripping the roofs off. In one of the family photo albums, mum has kept a plan I did pre–five years old that was an alteration of our family home.